Fighting a Downward Slope: Can Technology Fix the UK’s Flailing Productivity Levels?

I was reading an article a couple of weeks ago discussing the latest ONS figures which showed that workers in the UK are falling behind other G7 countries in relation to overall productivity. According to the stats, the UK workforce is 4% less productive than it was in 2008, and is now 3% less productive than Germany, and 5% less productive than France.

Everybody has days when they’re stressed or distracted, and productivity understandably falls as a result, but for it to be a national issue there’s obviously something deeper going on.

Lackluster Support

Are businesses doing enough to help their workforces be as productive as possible? Recent research suggests they’re not, as over 54% of British workers don’t feel they get enough support from employers to drive business success. But there are simple ways to turn things around and increase productivity without huge investment, as Dell’s PJ Dwyer pointed out in his article Harnessing the power of ‘Business Class Productivity’.

Dwyer discusses the importance of ‘enhancing productivity by using appropriate technology’ — something everyone at Mindjet feels very strongly about — particularly when work is no longer a 9-5 practice. Instead, work is now comprised of what you do and how productive you are regardless of time or location.

Providing the Right Tools

Despite the move from Yahoo! to bring workers back into the office, most now expect to, or at least to have the ability to, work remotely or on the go. For most businesses this reflects the changing demands of its industry and employees, so it’s important that this is recognised and the technological demands of the ‘evolving workforce’ are met quickly.

Businesses should take a look at the habits of employees and look at the tools, both physical and virtual, that can help them to work in a more dynamic and fruitful way. Some may prefer Blackberrys to iPhones, whilst others may find working in a visual way is beneficial. This is where software like ours can help. There are simple solutions to most business problems; it’s just about finding the right one.

Crucially, improving business productivity relies on getting things right now, so that we can prosper and grow in the future. And if you want the top talent, bear in mind that candidates will often investigate the tech and tools that are permitted at work before coming on board!

To find out more about how visual processes can boost productivity, check out People-ontheGo’s webinar with Andy Wibbels, our very own Director of Solutions and Partner Marketing, on July 11th at 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM PDT. Register here.